ExRx.net

Hello All,

I am looking for advice on energy type foods. I am interested in eating foods that will give me more energy - not meal replacement bars, or supplements - real food.

I am feeling pretty worn out most of the time and am wondering if my diet could help.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciate. For now, i will take a nap ;).

Thanks,
Bill L

It would be easier to help if you post what your typical diet is. I can tell you this though. There are 3 ways food causes you to be tired. First, eating a large ammount at one time. Your digestive system gets the energy which means nap time for you. Another way is when you eat sugary and starchy food, your blood sugar spikes real high. This causes an insilin reaction which makes it crash real hard. This also brings on nap time. Vitimin deficencies are another culprit. So don't pig out, take a multivitimin every day and eat carbs that digest slowly. Veggies, grains, beans (not the ones in a sugar loaded sauce) are the kind of carbs you want to eat. Berries are good, but don't go hog wild on other fruits. Read labels, people randomly add needless sugar to many things.

Hi Bill.Just to add onto what Sonnygill mentioned, and I just found out about it a year or two ago, it's not necessarily all starchy foods that can cause this, but rather gluten. I was surprized to find out its more prevalent than I would have thought, one figure cited 1 out of 5 people, however I think that number might be a bit high. Do a searh on Celiac condition, some call it a disease. I'm not saying that's your problem, just maybe a possibility.
Foods. I just saw this guy Stephen Pratt, MD, interviewed on one of the daily moning shows, about a new book called Superfoods Healthstyle.Thought to myself, well just another self appointed guru selling a book, but while listening to him, well, he might be in for book sales, but what he was touting made a whole lot of sense. Basically it was any colored fruit and vegetable, with emphasis on peppers, kiwi's , cabbage, etc. Wasn't to keen on a lot of the grains, with the exception of barely and oatmeal, praised the legumes. On to protein, he recommended the lower fat cuts of meat, and poultry, and really praised the cold water fatty fish for their omega-3 (EPA/DHA) content, and of course the olives ,olive oils and really pushed avacados. Hope this give you some idea
Tim

starch does cause the blood sugar spike which in turn causes the insulin respone and crash. Gluten could be worse but I don't know. Some people are arguing that white flour is worse then sugar. Weather it is or isn't you still get that crash though.

Sorry - i wasn't clear in my original post.

I am looking for foods that will increase my overall energy levels. I currently eat a well balanced diet and not looking for critique on it, i am looking for a list of foods, meals, etc that i might refer to when i am snacking.

My current diet is as follows:

breakfast - cereal (oatmeal or dry cereal with milk) or peanut butter sandwich, a yogurt or cottage cheese, a piece of fruit, bottle of water and glass of skim milk.

lunch - usually a sandwich (meat or pb) and salad - salad usually has some sort of meat chopped and mixed in, piece of fruit, yogurt and bottle of water.

supper - meats, veggies, rice, pasta or potato, glass of milk.

snacks - between meals - nuts, seeds, fruit.

snacks - late evening (usually post workout) - couple cans of tuna or a sandwhich of some kind.

Throughout the day i drink probably a dozen bottles of water (500ml) and several glasses of skim milk.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE IS TO ADD SNACKS IN BETWEEN MEALS AND THROUGH THE EVENING THAT WILL BOOST MY ENERGY LEVEL. BUT I WANT REAL WHOLESOME FOODS, NOT MRP'S, POWDERS, ETC.

Thanks for any advice,
Bill L

OKAY.. you asked for it!

Not ALL of these are convenient 'snackables' but they ARE what I consider to be ~powerfoods~

In alphabetical order:

Beans
Blueberries
Broccolli
Oats
Oranges
Pumkin
Salmon
Soy
Spinich
Tea (green OR black)
Tomatoes
Turkey
Walnuts
Yogurt

While 'oats' and 'spinich' might not be something you want to snack on, blueberies, broccoli, oranges, tomators, walnuts and yogurt are all easy, convenient snack foods.

And the are PACKED with great nutrients.

While those foods top my list of powerfoods, I'm also big on things like, almonds, avocado, radishes, and all kinds of fruits. Blueberries get the big gossip, but all other berries are good too! And, since boneless chicken breasts are always a staple around here, I'll grill an extra one and slice it, to keep in the fridge for snacking sometimes too.

I also like the hard boiled egg (as previously stated) and go for the cottage cheese once in a while too.

dian

The advice stands. There is no magic energy food. You can have a little caffine to help with your alertness however. Most people do not have a problem with caffine although there are a few who are sensetive to it. That is why the advice stands. Having less spikes in your blood sugar and insulin response is the way to have more energy through diet. It looks like your diet does have some spikes. I suppose you could just eat every hour, but I wouldn't think that would be possible for most people. Just having a guess I would say an hour or so after supper you are the most tired and then feel better after your evening snack. Excercise is of course the other way to get energy. The correct ammount of sleep too. Which that is different for everyone.

Wll, I'm jumping in with the others (Sonny and Di). Just look at the lists Dian and I posted, follow some of Sonnygills recommendations, and just scale it back down to snack size. Forinstance, I use the following snacks all thetime, and they're fairly portable.
1. Small can of Sardines and a pear or an apple (all 3 areas covered, P,C,F w/omega-3's)
2. Chicken thigh, clementine (it's a small offshoot of an orange) and some nuts
Just be a bit imaginative.
Tim

Those are all good snack ideas, there is something for everyone no matter what your diet might be. I still have not seen any proof that they increase energy other then the boost you get from any food. They will not cause the crashing effect though. That's as close to energy food as there is. If I ever see any proof of a true energy booster, I'll be first in line at the store.

Thanks everyone!

Turns out i was eating the right stuff, though Dian's list is much more inclusive than my own. Thanks - i will have some more items to chose from! Tim - i keep sardines and tuna in my desk drawer at work.

I guess now i will look at my workout routine - i now think my energy level depletion might be due to kicking the hell out of my self a la crossfit.

I don't to eat more to fuel the workouts, as i just lost 30 lbs since the adoption of the crossfit template for my workouts and like being able to see the muscles i work so hard to develop. (Oh God - i'm not a body builder now, am i?).

Cheers everyone,
Bill L

DELETED